Subject: Du Pont Co. Stops Backing Ampligen
Date: Published: 8/19/88 56 lines
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    Du Pont Co. Stops
    Backing Ampligen,
    Test Drug for AIDS
    ----  
    By Michael Waldholz
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    Du Pont Co. said it terminated support for research into a
 promising experimental AIDS drug called Ampligen, but
 declined to give its reasons.
    Du Pont was backing several studies of Ampligen under an
 agreement with HEM Research Inc., a closely held concern that
    Ampligen received considerable attention last year as a
 potential treatment for acquired immune deficiency syndrome
 following initial reports that its use boosted the immune
 system of patients with AIDS-related complex, or ARC, an
 early stage of the disease.
    A spokesman for Wilmington, Del.-based Du Pont said the
 company couldn't elaborate on its decision, but in a brief
 joint statement by Du Pont and Philadelphia-based HEM, the
 companies said HEM would continue conducting clinical trials
 of the drug and that Du Pont would continue supplying the
 drug for the studies.
    A source familiar with Du Pont's decision said it stemmed
 from some disappointing "interim" results that the company
 has seen in studies of the drug.  The source said that the
 data that Du Pont has seen indicates that "at current
 formulations and doses, Ampligen doesn't seem to have any
 effect."
    But an HEM official and a researcher involved in Ampligen
 studies said they knew of no evidence indicating the drug
 wasn't useful.  Roy Urdanoff, HEM vice president and
 treasurer, said he believed Du Pont's action was a "business
 decision."  He added:  "We're still very enthusiastic about
 Ampligen."
    David R. Strayer, a professor at Hahnemann University,
 Philadelphia, who is overseeing a 300-patient, multicenter
 trial of Ampligen, said, "I know of no interim data to
 indicate why Du Pont would back out of their agreement with
 HEM.  " Dr. Strayer said his trial is continuing.
    Last December, Dr. Strayer presented the results of a
 25-patient study of Ampligen indicating the drug might be
 useful in delaying the onset of AIDS. In June 1986, a
 10-patient test of the drug by researchers at Vanderbilt
 University indicated the drug improved immune system
 responses and reduced the amount of the AIDS virus in the
 blood of AIDS patients.

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